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Dallin H. Oaks 2/17/14

¿Como estan? I hope all is well in the United States. Here in Mexico we are doing great! This week we had some beautiful hot weather. We had a lot of work to do and a lot of great experiences.

We had a baptism this Saturday! Saturday was busy… Her name is S. She has an incredible story and a ton of faith. It was hard for her to make it to where she is but to see the joy she has now was so worth it. I could tell for her as well. It´s sad because she is moving so we won´t see her, but I am so grateful to know her and learn from her.

The other highlight of the week was that we had a conference with Elder Dallin H. Oaks. It was on Saturday morning. We go all dressed up and left nice and early to be on time. I got to play the prelude music for a bit until the elder that was supposed to play arrived. When Elder Oaks arrived we all got to great him and his wife and shake his hand. That was pretty cool! We got to hear some really inspiring and powerful thoughts and teachings. Something that I loved was that he was very powerful and you could tell that it was exactly what we needed to hear. However, he was also personable and we had some good laughs. I learned a lot but the one thing that I think I liked the most was when he talked about how we can feel the Spirit more. He talked about the sacrament prayers. 77 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this abread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and bwitness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his ccommandmentswhich he has given them; that they may always have his dSpirit to be with them. Amen. DyC 20:77 He talked about how there are 3 things we covenant to do: take upon us the name of Christ, always remember Him, and keep His commandments. He said that to take upon us the name of Christ means to act according to what He would do. His name is His work. Just as we show our faith by our works, we also show our commitment to this covenant by our works. To always remember Him. If we can always remember Christ it is much easier to do the things we know to be true. If we always remember Him, when we have temptations they will be easier to overcome because we remember all the He did for us. And keep the commandments. Obedience. These things are so simple but they are the 3 things that we can do, that we have to do ¨that [we] may always have his Spirit to be with [us].¨ I want that with all my heart. That is the goal of this life. I am so grateful for that gift I have in my life. We, as members of the Church, have the grand opportunity to be guided by a member of the Godhead. That testifies of the truth and helps us know good from evil. When we are living worthy of that and truly have the desire to do God’s will, we can have that powerful witness and guide in our lives. One last thing that Pres Oaks said. Never take too much for granted. He was talking about teaching but I really think it applies to everything in life. Enjoy the little things. Every moments is a part of this life that God has given us. Sometimes it´s hard. Sometimes all we want to do is cry or sleep or yell with frustration. And sometimes we need to. But really, every experience that we have is a gift from God that we can learn from. This life is way to short to even let a second go by without gratitude to God in our hearts for what we have been given and an effort to make every moment better.

Well, this week (tomorrow) we have cambios. So I´ll let you know what happens.

Make it a great week!

Con muchísimo amor y un abrazo de oso

Hermana Chapman la menor

In answer to questions …

We work with a lot of inactives members and we try our very best to get referrals. And we go out tracting as well. In my mission we are the only group of 3 sisters. I think it only happens when you have an odd number of missionaries. We actually live in a house. It´s small and simple but it is great. That is when the toilet works properly 😉 My favorite thing about the mission… That´s a hard one. I really love getting together with the other missionaries in our conferences and meetings. That´s always a lot of fun. I think the thing I have come to love the most up to this point is that I have the chance to talk to so many people every day and each one has a uniques story to tell. Sometimes it´s hard to be a missionary but when you get the opportunity to hear the inspiring story of someone you really come to appreciate how many great people there still are in the world. And how much God really loves each and every one of us enough to care for us individually. He cares about all the little details of each of our lives. And as missionaries we get the chance to hear about some wonderful people.